Thursday, March 16, 2006

Alchemist

The above sentence that seems so apocryphal in today’s competitive age is the motif behind the book ‘The Alchemist’ written by ‘Paulo Coelho’. And when you read this book nothing seems truer than the fact that it is fate, which finally leads you to your destination. This novel skillfully amalgamates words of wisdom, philosophy, and simplicity of meaning and language, which makes it particularly readable.

The protagonist of the story is a Santiago, a simple boy who lives by traveling with his sheep. He is suddenly enchanted by a dream, he dreamt while resting under a tree, inside a ruined church in Spain. He dreamt that if he traveled to the pyramids, he would find his fortune. So he went on for an uncharted journey and along the way encountered magical phenomenon (meeting with the king and the alchemist). He also met the girl of his life, Fatima, on his way to Egypt. When he got to the pyramids, he met a desert soldier who told him that two years ago, he dreamt that in a tree that has grown inside the ruins of a church in Spain (the place from where Santiago embarked on his journey), he would find his treasure. In that instant, Santiago realized that what he's been looking for all these years is right where he left it. He found his treasure but realized that the actual treasure of his life was the journey itself. Along the journey, the protagonist stumbled upon many self-realizations and philosophies of life that would help him become the next Alchemist.

The book imparts various messages like ‘the means matter more than the end’,’ treasure lies where your heart belongs’,’simple things are the most valuable and only wise people appreciate them’ and ‘the only obstacle in life is the fear of failure’.The book illuminates on the power of dreams, destiny and most importantly optimism.

This book has transformed my pessimistic, materialistic and flamboyant attitude into an optimistic and idealistic one. The book taught me that the best way to overcome failure was its acceptance. It has taught me to overcome failures by facing them and not fearing them. It was then, that I realized that the biggest fear is fear of fear itself and the best gift is willpower. I believe life is a journey and the experience of life lies in the journey and not the destination. In a nutshell the book taught me to believe in myself and gave me my elixir of life. Read it to find out yours.